Sharjah: It was Ravi Bopara’s day at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. A spectacular all-round show saw him bowl and bat Karachi Kings to a 27-run win over Lahore Qalandars.
Bopara, after enthralling the sell-out crowd through an unbeaten 71 off 43 balls with four sixes and three boundaries to help Karachi post an impressive 178 for 5, destroyed Lahore’s determined chase with a six-wicket spell, giving away just 16 runs from his four overs. He batted as if he was avenging his team’s last-match three-run defeat to Peshawar Zalmi on Thursday - despite his own breezy knock of 67 runs.
The Friday crowd got their money’s worth as they got to see Chris Gayle in action after a two-match rest following a back strain. Gayle, opening the Lahore innings with Cameron Delport, put on 98 runs in 11 overs, before Delport was stumped by wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim off Usama Mir for 55. Delport hit seven boundaries and two sixes in his 37-ball knock.
Bopara removed Gayle with his first ball of his first over, making him top-edge to Rahim for 37. Worse was to follow, as Bravo fell for a duck in the same over with Mir Hamsa taking a diving catch at deep cover.
In the last five overs, Lahore needed 59 runs but Bopara took the next four wickets in succession to win the match almost single-handedly for his team.
Earlier, Lahore Qalandars had won the toss and elected to field. Karachi shuffled their batting order with skipper Shoaib Malek and Nauman Anwar opening the batting. They put on 54 runs in 6.4 overs before Nauman fell for 35 runs.
Anwar batted brilliantly and hit Kevin Cooper and Dwayne Bravo over long-on, and also Zohaib Khan over mid-wicket for sixes. His knock came off 25 balls and had two boundaries as well, before he fell to a catch at long-on by Umar Akmal off Zohaib.
Next man James Vince quickly followed, hitting Zohaib to Bravo straight to cover. Bopara then walked in for his show. He put on 33 runs in 4.2 overs with his skipper Malek. After Gohar made Malek hit him to Delport at long-off for 27, and Shakib Al Hasan fell, slog-sweeping Gohar to Bravo for 9, Bopara hit Gohar for two sixes in the 17th over.
Bopara also hit Bravo for a straight six to reach his half century in 36 balls. He put on 39 runs in the last 17 balls with Mushfiqur Rahim (10n.o) to ensure the challenging total.
Brief scores:
Karachi Kings 178 for 5 in 20 overs (Nauman Anwar 35, Shoaib Malek 27, Ravi Bopara 71n.o, Zohaib Khan 2 for 35, Zafar Gohar 2 for 26). Lahore Qalandars 151 for 8 in 20 overs (Chris Gayle 37, Cameron Delport 55, Ravi Bopara 6 for 16) Man of the match: Ravi Bopara.